Clock or watch having a tripping mechanism



March 12, 1963 A. SCHNEITER CLOCK OR WATCH HAVING A TRIPPING MECHANISM Filed April 5, 196].

I/VVf/VTOR AL] SCHNEJT'ER AGENT'J United States Patent Ofiice 3,080,702 CLOCK OR WATCH HAVING A TRIPPING MECHANISM Ali Schneiter, Corcelles, Neuchatel, Switzerland, assignor to Ebauches S.A., Neuchatel, Switzerland, a firm Filed Apr. 5, 1961, Ser. No. 101,319 Claims priority, application Switzerland Apr. 8, 1960 1 Claim. (Cl. 58-20) This invention relates to a clock or watch having a tripping mechanism for the control, particularly, of an alarm or an electric contact.

Said clock or watch is characterised in that the hour cannon wheel carries freely, on its cannon, a sleeve joined to a control cam, said sleeve earring freely thereon and bearing on the control cam a mechanism-adjusting wheel, and in that a friction spring is interposed between the hour wheel and the said adjusting Wheel so as to provide a friction drive on the one hand between the hour cannon wheel and the said control cam and, on the other hand, between the control cam and the adjusting wheel.

The drawing illustrates one embodiment of the subject of the invention by way of example.

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of an electric clock intended to be incorporated in a radio set, the switching on of which it controls automatically.

FIGURE 2 is a plan view of part of the mechanism of the said clock on an enlarged scale, and

FIGURE 3 is a section on the line III-llI in FIG URE 2 again on an enlarged scale.

The clock illustrated comprises an electric movement enclosed in a ferromagnetic protective case 1, which is not shown in detail because it is outside the scope of the present invention. The hour cannon pinion, denoted by reference 2, rotating on a spindle 3, carries a sleeve 4 mounted rotatably thereon. Said sleeve 4 has an outer shoulder 4a which forms a control cam for an electric contact described hereinbelow. Mounted freely on the sleeve 4 is a gearwheel 5. A resilient washer 6 is interposed between the latter and the hour wheel denoted by reference 2a and tends to apply the sleeve 4 against a stop ring 35 through the medium of the wheel 5. The washer 6 thus ensures a friction drive on the one hand between the hour Wheel 2a and the cam 4a and on the other hand between the cam 4a and the wheel 5.

By means of a gear train 7 and 8 and a control knob 9 joined to the wheel 8 the wheel enables the cam 4a to be turned by hand on the cannon 2 and thus enables the relative angular position of these two parts to be varied. It should be noted that the cam 4a has an annular bearing surface 4b against which bears the wheel 5 so that the friction between the latter and the cam takes place over a larger diameter than the friction between the sleeve 4 and the ring 35. The cam 4a is thus satisfactorily driven by the wheel 5 without any danger of undesired slip.

The sleeve 4 also carries a disc 10 provided with a graduation 11 which appears in a slot 12 in a rotary dial 13 carried by the hour cannon pinion 2. Said dial 13 carries two markers, one of which, denoted by reference 14, has the appearance of an hour hand and the other, denoted by reference 15, is situated opposite the graduation 11.

When the sleeve 4 is turned by the manual control 3,080,702 Patented Mar. 12, 1963 knob 9, the graduation 11 is moved with respect to the marker 15, so that it is possible to check the relative angular position of the sleeve 4 and the cannon pinion 2, thus enabling the release mechanism to be adjusted. It should be noted that the control knob 9 drives the wheel 8 by means of a clutch (not shown) which enables said knob to be disengaged by moving it axially. In this way the knob 9 is not constantly rotated during operation of the movement.

The rotary dial 13 is housed in the plane of a fixed dial 16 which surrounds it and which carries an hour face 17 with which the hour marker 14 and the minute hand (denoted by refererence 1S) co-operate. The movement plate is denoted by reference 19.

On its surface situated opposite the dials 13 and 16 said plate 19 carries a two-armed lever 20 pivoted at 21 about an axis perpendicular to the plane of the movement; an arm 20a of the lever 20 carries an electric contact stud 22 while its second arm, 20b, co-operates with the cam 4a. A return spring 23 tends to apply the arm 20b against the cam. A bent resilient strip 24 is fixed at 25 on the plate 19 with the interposition of an electrical insulator. Said resilient strip 24 carries a contact stud 26 co-operating with the stud 22. The inherent elasticity of the strip 24 tends to apply the strip 24 against a cam 27 of insulating material which is mounted rotatably on the plate 19 and is connected to a control knob 28. Said cam 27 has three flats 29a, 29b and 290 with which a jumper spring 30 co-operate, thus ensuring stability of three of its positions.

Depending on the angular position occupied by the cam 27, the stud 26 is at a greater or lesser distance from a maximum deflected position thereof. In its position illustrated in FIGURE 2, the stud 26 is at a distance from the maximum deflected position such that the stud 22 comes into contact with it only when the arm 20b of the lever 20 is situated opposite an indented part 31 of the cam 4a. When the rest of the cam operates on the lever 20, the stud 22 is moved away from the stud 26, thus breaking the contact. In this position of the cam 27, switching on of the radio to which the clock is fitted is automatic.

When the flat 29b is in engagement with the spring 30 the zone denoted by 32 on the cam 27 acts on the strip 24, thus bringing the stud 26 to its maximum deflected position. In this position, the studs 22 and 26 are constantly in contact irrespective of the position of the central cam 4a. This position of the cam 27 corresponds to a continuous operation of the radio.

Finally when the stud 290 is in contact With the spring 30, the zone 33 of the cam 27 acts on the strip 24 thus enabling the stud 26 to move away from the maximum deflected position. In the corresponding position, the stud 22 is never in contact with the stud 26, irrespective of the position of the central cam 4a. The radio is thus constantly switched off.

It should be noted that the cam 27 has a nose 27a co-operating with a pin 34 carried by the plate 19, thus limiting the angular movements of the cam 27.

What I claim is:

In a clock or watch having a tripping mechanism for the control particularly of an alarm or an electric contact, an hour cannon wheel, a control cam, a sleeve joined to the said control cam and freely mounted on the said hour cannon wheel, an adjusting wheel of the said tripping mechanism freely mounted on the said sleeve and axially bearing on the said control cam, a stop on the said hour cannon wheel, and a friction spring interposed between the said hour cannon Wheel and the said adjusting wheel so as to press the said control cam against the said stop and to provide a friction drive on the one hand between the hour cannon Wheel and the said control cam and, on the other hand, between the control cam and the adjusting wheel, the contact between the said adjusting wheel and the said control cam being References Cited in the file of this patent V UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,503,082 Tuttle Apr. 4, 1950 2,745,918 Stewart May 15, 1956 2,847,525 Everard Aug. 12, 1958 

